Buckets of Rain
by emaline5678
Summary: A missing scene from Hell Hath No Fury. How Leo and Piper healed each other after Piper's turn as a demon. Angst, but lots of romance as well. Major PL as they grieve for a lost sister.


_Back again, kids! This story overlaps with the ending of "Hell Hath No Fury". What Leo thought as Piper broke down at the end of the episode and the following couple of days. A P/L story about how the two healed each other. I'm sure Piper wasn't the warmest to her long-suffering husband those few months after Prue's death. _

_Love to "Charmed" and the WB really! I borrowed a few lines from the episode but it's all in love. Unfortunately, I do not own the characters or I would not be living in Iowa. _

_P.S. It's not really a songfic. Just has a few verses from "Buckets of Rain" by Bob Dylan. The song was in my head the whole time. Great track though. Enjoy!_

_Buckets of rain/_

_Buckets of tears/_

_Got all them buckets comin' out of my ears._

"How dare you!" Piper shouted, her face stretched into a horrible grimace of anger. The demon she had become, Fury, only caused the anger to be intensified into a vortex of hate. Leo looked on with a mixture of horror and agony as the emotions fought across his wife's face. She moved closer to her long-lost sister Paige as if ready to attack her. Leo stiffened in case he would have to rescue Paige. He didn't exactly relish fighting against his wife.

Instead of attacking Paige, Piper veered off to the mausoleum wall. Her small hands, now tipped with demonic claws, banged against the plagues that hung there. Prue's plaque was still shiny and new as it stood out against the others. Leo had orbed both Piper and Paige to the empty cemetery in a last hope to get Piper to face her inner anguish.

"How dare you leave me!" Piper sobbed, her cries echoing throughout the mausoleum. Leo's heart wrenched inside of his chest as he watched his wife weep.

"How could you go and leave me here all alone? Please come back. I need you. Please come back!" Piper sobbed.

Suddenly, she slid to the ground, her awful sobs overpowering her small body. As Piper let the emotions – grief, agony, despair, anger – wash over her, the Fury demon quickly left her body and she again became normal.

Leo instantly knelt by her side. "It's ok, baby. It's ok."

"No, it's not ok," Piper sobbed, blindly reaching out for her husband's hand. Even as his heart broke to see Piper so upset, he couldn't help but feel a small amount of relief. For weeks she had shut herself off from everyone – including him. She hadn't slept, hadn't eaten. She had become just a ghost of her former self – as if she had wanted to join Prue in the afterlife. Leo had thought he would lose her forever. Now, she was finally _truly_ grieving. Now, she was finally beginning to feel again.

"It's not ok," Piper cried weakly. "She risked her life everyday and she never thought about what would happen to me and Phoebe if she was gone. How could she do that?"

"Shhhh. It's ok," Leo murmured, just hoping his presence could help soothe her. Behind him, he could Paige begin to cry as well. Piper only continued to shake with her violent sobbing. She reached out for him again and finally, after what seemed like years, she let him hold her in his arms again. She clung to him and cried into his shoulder, her emotions finally overwhelming her after being locked inside of her for weeks.

Leo held her onto her as hard as he could as she wept. He wanted to be her anchor, her weight to this world. He had watched her wither away over the last few weeks, unable to help her move on. She had ignored him, shut him out, turned coldly away from him. It broke his heart every time she turned down a plate of food, or locked herself in the attic. He had seriously thought he would lose her. It frightened him to the core, thinking that instead of just a simple divorce, she'd end things more dramatically. She had longed and missed Prue so much that he had thought she would do anything to be with her sister again – including throwing her life away.

Now she finally _was_ grieving. After what felt like a thousand years, she was finally showing _emotion_. It was a good sign – a sign that she was ready to move on. It would never be the same without Prue. It wasn't fair that she was taken away from them. Now, maybe – just maybe - Piper would be able to face a life without her big sister.

"Leo, let's get out of here," Paige said quietly, breaking his thoughts as she touched his shoulder.

"I can't. Now while Piper is-"

"She's asleep."

Surprised, Leo looked down at his sleeping wife. Her body felt limp and heavy in his arms as if physically spent. Yet, the look on her face was one of peace. Finally – peace.

Leo smiled softly. "She is, isn't she?"

"Let's get her back home, ok? It's time to go." Paige said, casting one last look at Prue's plaque.

"Yeah," Leo replied. Never letting go of Piper, he moved to his feet. She snuggled unconsciously closer to him as he positioned her more comfortably in his arms. He looked at her peaceful profile and breathed a sigh of relief. The storm had finally broken. There couldn't be anything but sunshine behind the dark clouds of grief.

"Let's go back home," Leo said, as Paige grasped his arm. His eyes gave Prue's plaque one last look of goodbye and he silently orbed both sisters back to the manor.

_I been meek/_

_And hard like an oak/_

_I seen pretty people disappear like smoke._

_Friends will arrive, friends will disappear/_

_If you want me, honey baby/_

_I'll be here._

Piper Halliwell woke slowly from her deep sleep. She awoke slowly as if she had slept under the ocean for a hundred years. Her body ached like it anyway. Yet, her mind was actually clearer than it had been in weeks. She felt oddly peaceful. She cherished it because she knew it wasn't a feeling that came often to her.

Slowly, she opened her brown eyes and took in her surroundings. Her bedroom was dark and in shadow, but sunlight slipped into the room through the half open window. She tilted her head to watch the wind ripple through the white lace curtains. They fluttered as free as butterflies. A sudden urge took her as she sat up slowly in bed. Her body cried out in protest, but she ignored the aches. She moved in bare feet to the window to watch the world below her. The wind fluttered her brown hair about her shoulders and her skin rejoiced in the summer sun. The same houses, the same cars, and the same trees were outside her window. It was the same world. Her big sister was gone, dead, and the world hadn't stopped in its tracks.

Sighing, she sat slowly on the window seat, keeping her eyes on the street. A few kids giggled as they raced their bikes along the sidewalk. An old woman walked her scruffy black lab on the other side of the street. A woman was calling to her husband to bring in the groceries – _now_. She smiled softly as the wind continued to tickle at her face and hair.

Yes, Prue was gone. The utter gut-wrenching grief she had felt after Prue's death was still there, but it had faded to a dull ache. She knew it would never completely leave her, but in a way Piper was glad. She knew she'd never stop loving Prue or stop missing her. Yet, now she could breathe. Now, she could _live_. Prue wouldn't have wanted her to hide in her room or the attic every day. Prue wouldn't have wanted her to waste her life carelessly just to fight the pain of grief. Piper had Phoebe, long-lost sister Paige and Leo to live for.

_Leo_. Instantly, Piper's eyes turned back to the bed. Of course, it was empty. It was probably three in the afternoon. He would be counseling a charge or working at the club. He wouldn't be nursing his grieving wife as if she sat on her deathbed.

Her eyes spied one of his shirts lying on the window seat beside her. Sudden guilt throbbed through her. Slowly, she reached out to take the crumpled blue flannel shirt into her hands. Closing her eyes, she raised the shirt to her face and inhaled his familiar scent. No matter how long he stayed on earth, he always smelled of the sky and of heaven. It was a constant reminder that she had literally married an angel. When they had started seriously dating again – after the break up with Dan – Piper would worry constantly when he was gone. She knew she had to stop – it wasn't healthy for their relationship – yet at night the worry came back to haunt her. She had started sleeping with one of his shirts at night to help ease her mind. She would wrap the shirt around the pillow and breathe in the scent of him as dreams overtook her. It helped ease her worry to sense a part of him was still near her even if he was thousands of miles away.

Piper lowered the shirt and bit her lip. No wonder he wasn't here. She had been a monster over the past few weeks – even before she became a demon. She had turned into a cold ice sculpture, locking everyone out of her heart. Why not? Prue was dead – what reason did she have left to care? Yet, Leo had been there every day to help her heal. He had tried to get her to talk, to get her to grieve. Instead, she had pushed him as far away as possible. Even when he had reached for her at night, she had turned coldly away as if she couldn't stand to be near him. She hadn't wanted his love or sympathy then. How could he feel what she was feeling anyway? Piper winced. He probably didn't just grieve, he probably felt guilty as hell for not being able to save Prue. He probably needed just as much comfort as any of them and she had pushed him away. She felt new tears begin to collect in her eyes for her husband. Oh, God, what had she done?

"Knock-knock," a voice called gently into the shade of the bedroom. Piper looked up to see her husband standing in the doorway. "I see you're up."

Piper smiled at him in relief. He wore one of his many flannel shirts over a pair of familiar blue jeans. His smile was just as full of love for her as always. Yet, there was something lurking in his green eyes. He stepped hesitatingly into the room, as if testing her – waiting for the explosion. Her heart lurched at that. She had hurt him deeply, she knew. Lord, she had made a mess out of the entire family.

Fighting back her guilt, she smiled broadly at him. She held out her arms to him. "You know, I'm not going to break. I'm not an invalid."

Leo's smile brightened finally to his eyes and he crossed the room to sit beside her. Immediately, he swept her into his arms. Piper couldn't suppress the sigh of contentment that passed through her. It felt so _good_ to be in his arms again. Her love for him trembled inside of her as she took in his heavenly scent again. She suddenly realized it had been a long time since she had felt such live, deep feelings.

"Are you-"

"I'm ok," she said softly, as Leo looked intently into her face as if inspecting her for cracks and breaks. "I'll be ok, Leo."

"Good," he replied with a grin as tears shone in his eyes. "You had us scared for awhile there."

"How bad was I?" she asked quietly, suddenly unable to meet his eyes. She found the buttons on his shirt much more fascinating. He frowned and caressed her cheek. She leaned into him again, laying her cheek against his chest so she could listen to his familiar heart beat inside of him.

"Well, you weren't _you_, Piper," Leo told her, his voice shaking slightly. "You wouldn't eat. You wouldn't sleep. You just kept ignoring us. You were so quiet – you were so cold. I thought – I thought I'd try and get you to talk to me. I thought you'd at least talk to _me_ if anyone. Instead, you just kept going after demons."

"God, I was awful," she murmured, slowly rubbing Leo's chest. She looked up at him and saw the anguish he tried to hide from her. "Honey, I'm so sorry I pushed you away. I shouldn't have. You're my best friend, my soul mate, my husband. I should have let you in. I should have talked to you. I was just so angry and so upset. I didn't think anyone could feel like I did."

"Baby, we're all here for you. We all loved Prue just as much as you did. You took it the hardest because you're the heart of this family. You're the sweet one, the romantic." He gave her a lopsided grin and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's why I love you."

His brave smile couldn't quite coax one of Piper. "I'm just so sorry. I was the worst wife. You were feeling probably worse than any of us and I made it all about me."

Leo hung his head as he remembered what he had felt over the past few weeks. He had been the one to heal Piper and yet he had utterly failed her sister. He may have as well as murdered Prue as Shax the demon. Then to endure the grief of the family and Piper's cold shoulder…it hadn't exactly been a pleasant time.

Piper softly caressed his cheek until he looked at her again. He took her hand and kissed her palm. "It wasn't exactly the best time of my life. But that's ok. You could never make me hate you, Piper. No matter what is said or done. All that's in the past now. You're talking, you're _living_, you're letting me in now. It's a sign that you're moving on."

"And I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," Piper replied firmly, hoping that her eyes expressed the same love and determination. "I love you. Thank you for being there for me – even when I wasn't exactly the warmest creature on the planet."

"You know I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," he replied, kissing her nose. "I love you too much for that."

Piper's stomach gave a familiar rumble and Leo chuckled.

"I guess it's time we get some food into you."

"Breakfast in bed then?" Piper asked, a sly smile creeping over her face.

"Well," Leo began, scratching his head. "It's a little late for breakfast."

"Why? How long have I slept?" Piper asked, looking around the room for a clock.

"Three days."

"You're kidding me," Piper cried, looking back at Leo.

"You were pretty spent after – after the mausoleum," he replied.

"I guess it makes sense for all the sleep I haven't been getting the past few weeks," Piper recalled those sleepless nights with a shudder. Leo immediately wrapped his arms around her again. She could feel he was trying to anchor her down to reality as if her grief threatened to overwhelm her again. He seemed to hold her as if he felt this was but a brief calm in the storm – as if she'd be gone from him forever if he let go for an instant. She hugged him back instantly. She knew she would have to make up the last few weeks for the rest of her life. She wanted him to know that she had no intention of leaving him ever. She belonged here, with him, with Phoebe…and Paige. Prue wouldn't have approved of Piper wallowing away her life in guilt as all those she loved faded by the wayside.

"Leo, I'm ok now."

"I know, but-"

"Let me prove it to you," she cried, wrapping her arms around his neck and moving in to capture his lips. The kiss was soft, but still passionate. She felt her heart begin to come alive under the caress of his lips. It had been ages since she had let Leo near her and her body sang out for him. She could feel Leo had missed her as well as he deepened the kiss, one hand sliding slowly down her shoulder towards her breast –

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Piper gasped, pushing him away slightly. She licked her lips to savor the taste of him, secretly loving the insane look of lust he suddenly gave her. "Let's eat first, ok? Then we can have more fun later."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Are you going to be up for that? I mean, seriously. You were turned into a demon just three days ago, Piper. Maybe you should take things a bit slow."

"I'll be fine," she cried, a mischievous grin suddenly playing on her face. "I've slept for three days for Pete's sake! Just to prove it, I'll race you to the kitchen. Go!"

With a squeal of delight, Piper left a grinning and shocked Leo in the bedroom as she raced down the stairs. She felt alive – more alive than she had felt in weeks. She knew she wasn't 100 yet, but she was breathing, laughing, _living_. The grief and longing wouldn't fade overnight. It would continue to lurk inside of her heart for days to come. Yet, she knew she could handle those days, those weeks, those months in the future. She knew she wasn't alone. Somewhere above, she knew her sister was beaming.

"So what do you want for lunch, Leo?" Piper shouted from the kitchen as soon as she skidded onto the linoleum floor.

"Do you feel like pasta?" Leo asked, poking his head out from the fridge door. Piper shook her fist at him.

"That is totally not fair. No orbing allowed!"

"I believe, Mrs. Wyatt," Leo cried, shutting the fridge door behind him. "You did not specify the rules of this game."

"No?" Piper said, smiling as she planted her fists on her hips. "One of these days, Wyatt, I'll-"

"You'll what?" Leo asked, sliding up next to her. "Freeze me? Blow me up?"

"I'll-" Before she could finish her sentence, Leo began to tickle her sides ferociously. Piper crumpled into a mess of giggles as she tried to tickle Leo back. She should have known it was useless since he was not ticklish at all. He only tickled her harder until she thought she would burst.

"Alright, uncle!" she cried as they lay in a laughing heap on the floor.

"I missed that."

"Missed what? Causing me to almost wet myself?" Piper cried, rubbing her sore diaphragm.

"No, you're smile. I missed that."

Piper looked up into his caring green eyes and smiled softly. "Well, you'll see more of it. Slowly, but surely. You'll see it again."

"And I'll love it every time," he murmured, capturing her mouth once again. This time, she didn't stop him as he deepened the kiss, whimpering into his mouth. Suddenly, her hunger was forgotten. With a grin, he gathered his wife into his arms and together they orbed back up into the bedroom.

_Life is sad/_

_Life is a bust/_

_All ya can do is do what you must._

_You do what you must do and ya do it well/_

_I'll do it for you, honey baby/_

_Can't you tell?_

The End.


End file.
